Regrets? I've had a few, but none of them being a tattoo. Personally, I think tattoos are wonderful things. They are permanent art, expressions of who you are or what you stand for. They are symbolic of hard times, beautiful moments, or tragic memories. Needless to say, they hold value.

Recently, I had talked to my town's local tattoo artist who had a whole speech on why his rates aren't going to leave college kids scrapping for money. He said he didn't understand why other shops charged absurd amounts for a piece of art. The way he saw it was if you want an art piece and it means a lot to you, I'm not going to charge an arm and a leg.

Tattoos are stories that get to be told when asked.

Semicolon tattoos. "Where the author could've ended the sentence but decided to keep on going. The author is you and the sentence is your life." There's a whole movement dedicated to this tattoo.

Although some look strange or meaningless...

They are significant to the individual.

They can represent culture.

I'm an artist, and like most artists, I struggled with finding my style, my own little mark on art that could one day be classified as mine. Like many of my decisions, I made a (slightly) irrational one. I decided to get a another tattoo. After a few months planning with one of my good friends, we came up with a design. My mother tried to convince me not to do it because she understood that though I was an artist, my style would change. She thought I'd end up hating it afterwards because my style changes so much.

In my mind she was right, but I knew that I wanted to remember this moment, my struggles, my recent artistic style, everything down to the emotions I was feeling at the time. So I ended up getting it and here's what it means:

"Beneath the moonlight is where I think my creativity peaks, the crescent moon reflecting that. It's in that darkness with a sliver of light that my wild creations take form from my hands in which they sprout and bloom. The shape is dotted, there aren't lines that close up the tattoo, it lets my creativity be free. The actual shape to me means there is always a starting point but changing paths always happens, but eventually you meet at the end, where you true inner artist lies to be discovered."

It's much lighter in person, but I'm proud of it.

My first tattoo I got in a super sketchy place, which probably was not the smartest decision, but I ended up loving the outcome.

"My body, mind and soul belong where the waves are. None of that would matter if I didn't have my twin sister with me, which is why we share the same simple tattoo."

Tattoos are part of our culture, they represent so many things, they hold interesting stories and beautiful art. I think if you've ever thought about getting one, you should. It's a experience that will be remembered.

#NoRagrets